(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a certification system and a method thereof, and more particularly to a system of certifying a user accessing the system over a radio network and a method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
With the recent rapid spread of the Internet all over the world, various types of electronic commerce for the entire world through a homogeneous medium called the Internet have been developed and used. Generally, the electronic commerce includes a series of activities including commercial transactions involving movement of funds as well as customer-oriented marketing, advertising, procurement, service, contents provision, manufacture, transportation, purchases, and the like using electronic media, electronic techniques, and means under circumstances of automatic information systems integrated among enterprise-to-enterprise, enterprise-to-personal, personal-to-personal, or government-to-enterprise transactions.
With the development of information and communications technologies, electronic commerce through the radio (wireless) Internet as well as the wired Internet is being increasingly activated. Electronic commerce through the radio Internet is being even more activated with a merit that customers can acquire desired information anytime and anywhere. With the active use of the radio Internet, services enabling acquisition of information on commercial transactions on the wired Internet or personal information such as mail information through the radio Internet are being provided to customers.
A user who wants to use a personal information reading service is typically required to be registered as a member in a system providing the service, and thereafter, the user can use the service only when he is certified to be the member of the system. Generally, when the user provides a user identification number (for example, an ID or the like) and a password to the system, the system may allow the user to use the service based on a determination on whether the information provided by the user is coincident with pre-stored information.
However, since the user can be certified based on only the ID and password provided by the user, an unauthorized person may not be prevented from using the ID and password of the user by stealth for the purpose of using the service. Particularly in the case of charged services, pecuniary damage to the user may occur due to an illegal act of the unauthorized person.